Friday List: Picture This

When I was six I had a serious desire to live with the Brady Bunch. The groovy Brady homestead rocked (I so wanted Greg Brady's teen attic pad with a beaded curtain instead of a real door) and despite some slight intervention from Carol, Mike, and Alice, the Brady household was ruled by a sort of "Lord of the Flies" childhood law. I would be cousin Liz, the cool, accepted seventh Brady -- not a bad-luck magnet like that dorky Cousin Oliver. As a pre-teen, I yearned to attend Eastland Academy with Blair, Tootie, Jo, Natalie and the other girls on "Facts of Life," wear cute uniforms and escape the awkward reality of junior high in Pemberton, N.J. By high school, I was so jonesing to be a part of "21 Jump Street," and it wasn't because of Richard Grieco.

To lesser degrees, I still do this -- insert myself into the fictionalized worlds of my favorite TV shows and movies. I want to pop into "Lost", slug Kate (just because) and explore the Others' self-contained little village. And can anyone really fault me for thinking it'd be pretty cool to live in the idealized England of Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility?" The dresses alone would make up for the lack of Pamprin. Well, maybe just a short visit. And I won't even go into my mini-obsession with Patrick O'Brian's "Master & Commander" books and my dream of living life on a tall ship. So embarrassing.

Thanks to an inspired posting on YesButNoButYes, we have a kick-butt Friday list: Share what TV or movie world you'd like to be a part of and why? Like our inspiration post, you can describe a fictional workplace where you'd like to spend your 40-hours a week or, like me, you can geek out and share the TV show or movie setting in which you can picture yourself.

I agree with Ashely, Stars Hollow and hanging with Lorelai(not so much Rory) would be great. But, I can't help but envy Carrie Bradshaw's fabulous life style/shoes/men on Sex and the City. My others are: Scubs-to fulfill the doctor career fantasy, and The Office because I wish and wish I had a friend like Jim where I worked.

High Fidelity...kick-ass tunes around the clock, the ability to force my elitest music tastes on unsuspecting consumers, and working with people who live and breath music just like me. It would beat sitting in a office typing on a computer 40 hours a week which is what I do now.

When I was little, I wanted to be part of the Swiss Family Robinson family. Life in a tropical tree house, fishing, eating tropical fruit, swooning over a young James MacArthur, swimming in blue water, what's not to love?

In my adult years, I'd be more likely to drop myself in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent, just to sooth Robert Goren's troubled brow. Hubba hubba.

Heros, I already have my abilities all thought out (years of loving comic books). Coming in a close second would be Girlfriends although my girls are pretty much like the ones on tv. Third would be Invasion, although sadly not enough people watched it and so by now I'd be cancelled.

I would love to be Bridget Jones too. Maybe just to watch Mark and Daniel slug it out. Sydney from Alias would be pretty kicka$$ too!

As a kid, I always wanted to be Laura Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (book and TV) and ditto the Jane Austin England.

This may be weird since it's non-fiction, but I promise I'm not a stalker. When I was 13 in 1993, with glasses, braces and bad hair, I really wanted to be Chelsea Clinton's friend. (Still do, I think she's glam now). But promise I'm not a stalker!

Wow, I love everyones wannabe life, I'm glad I'm not the only one that does this. I would love to jump into Scrubs, I work in a hospital and it is not nearly as much fun as Sacred Heart.

I would also love to be an X-man (woman), go to that awesome school and be around Wolverine all day, he looks so yummy in those wifebeaters. And I would look smokin' in those black leather jumpsuits (this is fantasy, right?).

But more than these I am dying to go to Hogwarts, hang out with Harry Potter and Ron (Hermione not so much) be able to do awesome magic and then marry Oliver Wood, former captian of the Gryfindor quidditch team. Ahhh, sweet perfection.

Oh! I play this game all the time. It all depends on what I've been reading or watching. I have talked with the Vampire Lestate, kicked butt with Xena and Buffy, stowed away with on a tall ship, and recently entered Pan's Labyrinth. These imaginings are what I do to fall asleep at night. My own personal fan fic... Am I insane?

As a kid, I wanted to go to Gilligan's Island. I figured I was old enough to get away from my parents. Could you imagine being doted on by the Howells and learning about being a girl from Ginger and Mary Ann? And having a goofy big brother in Gilligan? That existence sure beat the hell out of my regular life, that's for sure.

Now, I'd have to say space: on either the Enterprise (or maybe even Voyager), to explore. Again, sure beats the hell out of my regular life, though I do like my regular life a lot more now than I did as a teen.

Like many people have noted, I'd like to be in Friends....but only so I could afford a great apartment and overpriced coffees on a 20-something's NYC denizen salary! (Though to be honest, Monica did say she had the apartment through the rent controlled from an elderly relative - that could lead to an enviably low rent - check out this article:

http://nymag.com/realestate/features/20332/index.html.)

Also, as a paleontologist, I'd love Ross' job. Because in your late 20's, you're usually still slogging through grad school, post-grads or fellowships, hoping like hell that some sort of entry level position will open up.....the type where you're in a lab most of the day taking fossils out of plaster jackets making slightly higher than minimum wage.

I want to live in a world where I can jump straight from grad school to a curator position in one of the world's most famous museums!

In high school I really wanted to live in Port Charles, fictional city my favorite soap opera "General Hospital" took place in. I wanted to be friends with Sonny and Brenda and live the "cool" mob lifestyle. Then it was "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" so she could teach me how kick some arse.

Now, its "Grey's Anatomy." I wish I was a surgical intern which is totally stupid because I suck at all things science. But I'd really like to be as smart as they are. And hook up with cute doctors.

I wanted to be a spy--not like in Mad magazine, but from U.N.C.L.E. (why oh why couldn't I have had a name like "April Dancer") or swinging a tennis racket (Robert Culp wasn't cool, but Cos was). Living on a train (Wild Wild West) seemed pretty fab.
What, no one else past 30 reads this column?

Okay...
When I was little I wanted to be a thundercat..I was in love with lion-o.(believe me i know)

Teen years I wanted to be in Family Matters. Especially when Urkel changed into Stefan. I would have been his best girl!! hahaha

Now. I would also want to be a Hero and I would have hybrid powers so I could do a lot.

But I would also want to be one of the girls from SEx in the City. I would want to be a little of all four. Smart, sophisticated, free-spirited with great shoes and no care in the world except where I was partying that night!!!!

Give me Rene Russo's job in the Thomas Crown Affair. Fabulous outfits, a life of glamour and intrigue, and a spicy flirtation with Pierce Brosnan. The down side of this existence is, what, jet lag? Sign me up.

I want to stow away with the ladies of "Enchanted April" and stay for a month in a castle in Italy for an amazingly affordable rate. Then, I think I may go to soothe Horatio Hornblower's anxieties, once he's back on shore, of course. I'm not going to live on a ship in time of war. That would actually fit in nicely with living at the same time, in the same scenic English villages, as Jane Austen's more sensible heroines...

La Femim Nikita, talk about kick a#$ women on tv. Underworld I and II, the whole ability to fall and still land on your feet is very appealing. Something New, I can relate to it and Sex and the City, move it to Brooklyn and you've got a deal.

I am with Charlietown, Hogwarts all the way! And maybe we could take a side trip to the Lord of the Rings (the movie) so I could hook up with Legolas. Sigh Orlando Bloom you make my heart go pitter patter.
For book-worlds I've always been partial to the Chronicles of Narnia (and Harry Potter). When I was little I would spend hours trying to walk through my closet.

Gilligan's Island when I was a kid -- I love the beach and coconut pie! I always imagined that when they sang the version of the theme song, "...The movie star AND ALL THE REST" that I was included in "all the rest!"
Now I dream of being a CTU agent on 24, although not on a TAC Team -- they got blowed up real good. More like a Jackie Bauer, with permission to torture for the good of the American people.
"It's our only option! I REPEAT -- only option!"

Early in my dream life I wanted to be the 4th member of the Mod Squad, then a little later the thinking man's Charlie's Angel. Now, in my middle years, all I want to do is sail with Captain Jack Sparrow.

OMG!!! I forgot about the babysitter's club!!! A couple friends and I tried that for a week....sad to say it did not turn into money and boys or closer friendships for that matter!!!

hahahahaha those were the days :-)

Oh and I wanted to be Harriet the Spy. I use to carry around a black and white notebook and write everything in it. But I had to stop because my mother found it and said I wrote mean things and it wasn't nice.

I think you and I are kindred spirits. I also would eagerly jump into Lord of the Rings, just to be with Legolas. Oddly enough, I only find Orlando Bloom hot when he has long blonde hair and pointy elf ears. . .

I also dreamed about being Sebastian from The NeverEnding Story. My own luck dragon, unlimited wishes, and best of all, NO MORE SCHOOL!

I would love to work in that stylish CSI lab with all those beautiful people...Grissom, Sara, Nick, Greg...not to mention Warrick. Sigh. Although I would have to beat the crap out of Hodges on a weekly basis.

But I would REALLY love to live in Neptune California, where, sure, there's the daily fear of being raped or murdered, but all the quips are snappy, all the people are beautiful, and you have the most awesome dad ever, Keith. Also, Mac and Wallace would be my BFFs! Really, I just want to BE Veronica Mars, not hang out with her, so I don't know if that counts.

Of course, then I'd also love to be a hunter with the Winchester Brothers. I've always believed in spirits and monsters anyways, and I'd SO love to help those boys out with all their Angst.

How reassuring I'm not the only one who does this...
Buffy TVS: superpowers, fashionable clothes, endless melodrama and effortless one-liners. Who wouldn't?
Me too on the Star Trek, TOS only: I hate to admit it, but Spock is totally cool. (cringe)

For the sheer surreality of it, I think I'd have to go with being #3 on "The Prisoner." #3 had the life, didn't he? #2 was always getting humiliated by #6, and we know who #1 was. But #3? What a sweet gig. Drive around in golf carts and play mind games with people. Yeah, I could do that. Failing that, I'll go with being Mr. Rourke's stand-in on Fantasy Island...

In my younger days, I wanted to be on "Saved By The Bell" I'd get to hang out with hot chicks (and Screech!) and then after one season be magically transported from Indianapolis to Bayside California.

Then later on, I wanted to be an immortal on "Highlander: The Series"

And most recently, I wanted to be part of "Rollergirls" (former reality show on A&E) I just fell in love with the artsy Austin, TX to the point I was pretty close to moving out there, and I thought Punky Bruiser was hot.

As a kid, I so wanted to be Kitten on Father Knows Best. That was my family, right down to the older sister, middle brother, and baby sister (me). Today ... I just want to be anywhere Russell Crowe is.

I'd liek to go to Bayside High, but now that I am almost 30 I think I would have to go to the school from "90210", with all of the other 30 year old high school student.
Sidenote: Jack Aubry? That's a name I'll drink to three times three. I love the O'Brien novels - my Dad and I read every single one of them and would meet up every week to drink wine, discuss the novels, and end up talking like the characters in the novels. Good times.
The bottle stands by you sir.

oh yeah, over-30 and reading this column. I planned to become an international spy and marry one of the men from UNCLE; after having an affair with each one. But I was going to be really old and mature when I settled down with either Napoleon or Ilya, like 28. I also wanted imagined visiting the Ponderosa and falling in love with Adam, but not getting killed off like all the women who were unlucky enough to meet the Cartright boys.

I think that Stars Hollow would be great for long term. Secretly, the drama of Housewives of Orange county fascinates me. I can't help but think about how empty they are and how each of them define themselves by the bank account balance, the cars, the size of home and worse yet are passing this entitlement attitude on to their kids. Weird, I know....

I think that Stars Hollow would be great for long term. Secretly, the drama of Housewives of Orange county fascinates me. I can't help but think about how empty they are and how each of them define themselves by the bank account balance, the cars, the size of home and worse yet are passing this entitlement attitude on to their kids. Weird, I know....

wow, great list idea. i always wanted to be on little house in the prairie. it was such a simple time (at least before the shark jumping later episodes) and even as a kid i could tell the world was kind of a complex and scary place.

OR, flipper, just to get to hang out with a dolphin.

today, i would endure the discomfort of working at dunder mifflin if it would give me a shot at jim halpert!! or, i think i would like being padma, hostess from top chef. i know, weird. but she gets to eat amazing food but remain supermodel gorgeous, and has the intellectual stimulation at home of her husband, salman rushdie!

When I was a kid, I totally wanted to be at the Ocean Patrol Headquaters with Marine Boy and have lots of underwater adventures fighting bad guys riding on my trusty dolphin. My friends and I used to act out episodes, though we always fought over who would be Neptina and have the giant magic pearl...

Oh wow, I am so glad I'm not the only person who wants to live at Hogwarts.

When I was little, I was fascinated by the movie version of the Secret Garden. I'm still holding out hope that someday some benevolent stranger will leave me a giant old English estate, and I can just have the run of the place. Hey, it could happen.

My college roommate and I once bonded over the fact that we admitted that when we were kids and watched the Sonny and Cher Show, we both always wished that we could be Chastity Bono. (They would bring her out to say goodnight at the end of the show, and I just thought they must have this fun and impossibly glamorous life). What a hoot.

As an adult I envied Friends, not because of the characters so much but because they all seemed to have so much time to hang out together. You never lacked for something to do. My friends and I have to make so much effort to get together.

That one is easy...I would LOVE to be a CSI with the Vegas cast. Blood 'n guts have never bothered me, but some of the sciences I ventured a try with in high school and college kicked my tushie, so I don't have the gift...ah well.

You know... Land of the Lost wouldnt be so bad. If you could get past the Sleestaks and the only female companionship being a) underage and b) WAY WAY WAY too annoying. Yeah... nevermind... that would suck.

In the O'Brien novels, things really do improve as you move along. The ships with the gag-a-maggot below deck areas are replaced by the sweet smelling (no longer plague ridden) Nutmeg, then the beloved (and privately owned for the most part) Surprise again. Women certainly are treated better as the novel progress, too. In the early books, women are prostitutes, a little crazy, or upper class and protected. Later, you actually get women on the ships fairly regularly. The recurring women also get a LOT more interesting. We'll except Diana. I hated that cow from the get-go. New female characters were complex and interesting (that female naturalist in Africa, whose name escapes me).

I have to admit that I've imagined myself in this world, too, probably working in the sick-berth and seeing the world.

I wanted to join the Gothic and mysterious world of "Twin Peaks." Maybe as the assistant DA or the high school vice principal. Yeah, I would have had the challenge of taking Agent Dale Cooper away from Heather Graham, but I could be guaranteed a cool retro wardrobe and an even cooler soundtrack. Besides, that show badly needed some female characters who weren't either temptresses, damsels in distress, or mad housewives.

I went to college in what is basically a larger, real-life version of Gilmore Girls' Stars Hollow (and to the fellow Babysitters Club fan--where Ann M. Martin went to school). It was fun. After the first week I couldn't believe I once-for-a-second thought about going to school in New York or DC. Small Town, New England is the way to go!

*a citizen helping Jessica, Seth, and Sheriff Tupper solve murders in Cabot Cove on Murder,She Wrote
*a vampire with a soul who aids Buffy in her fights against the forces of evil in Sunnydale
*an FBI agent who aids Scully and Mulder in their investigation of a paranormal case on the X-Files
*a barfly who hangs out at Cheers and gets to listen to the conservations between Norm, Cliff, Woody, Sam, et al.

OK, I'll REALLY date myself and admit that, as a kid, I wanted to be Penny in Sky King. She was just so darn cute, with the blonde pony tail and all. And she and her uncle, the pilot, were always having great adventures. Also wanted to somehow hook up with Roy Rogers and Dave Evans.

Now, I'd like to be Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect. So smart and sexy, and tough too.

Lots of good ideas above. Adam was my favorite Cartwright brother too. Ben Casey, played by Vince Edwards in the early 1960s, was my heartthrob way back when. Brad Whitford is one of my current faves.

Northern Exposure . . . what a great idea! It was, indeed, a delightfully quirky world, and I loved the haircut on the female lead.

So many possibilities. Alas, not much chance of entering any of these appealing worlds. Fortunately, my own is reasonably appealing too.

"Northen Exposure" for sure. I still think about those characters.
"Highlander," if I could house-sit the barge in Paris while Mac was in Seattle.
"Sky King"---what a funny post. My preference from that period would be a sidekick on "Yancey Derringer."
More realistically, how about a cameo as the groundskeeper at Robin Masters' Hawaii estate?
Here's a reach: the guy who outdraws the punk gunfighter in "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" after he guns down Keith Carradine.

Ok, this makes me sound like I'm 50, but when I was little I wanted to be in a Hayley Mills movie - The Parent Trap, Polyanna, or my favorite Summer Magic (which for the longest time I only knew as the Yellow House Movie). I loved that movie (and now live in a yellow Victorian).

Upstairs /Downstairs but only if Lady Marjorie is still alive and I was her beloved cousin. I would want to persaude the PM to break the Entente Cordial and leave France and Russia to fight out the war without Briton. History today would be so different. German would be the universal language of Europe and the Moslems would be demanding that Germany withdraw from Palestine and Azerbajian.

Otherwise, Babylon 5 would be a great choisce. Like being in Vienna in 1900. B-5 for me if I can shag Lyta, see the verse and party with Londo.

Hogwarts as a long term lease destination if I can be a student in the 1990'sand if I can have superior [magic]skills.Luna and Susan Bones are you free tonight?

Also. the March family of Little Women but only if Winnona or Kate are playing Jo. I'd shag the lot of them [March girls ].

Finally, the Forsythe Saga but only if I was Old Jolyon's only heir and Irenee was unattached and interested in me. Of course Fleur would be an interesting alternative; but Ireanee was a sexually alive, mature woman and [Fleur] lacked her maturity and beauty.

What fun to dream. I grew up watching a western no one has mentioned here, "Cheyenne" with Clint Walker, such a great good looking guy. It would be a hoot to pal around the early west with him, get to meet a variety of people, and breathe clean air. No cattle drives, that is.
Also, I agree with the guy who likes Next generation, the Holodeck, ya. Wouldn't it be nice to be somewhere where you didn't know what was coming next, did not have to worry about money or material things in general. Have to admit, I would miss the beautiful places on earth however.

As a junior ADA, I had a secret yen to leave the clean, manageable, friendly (and yet still crime-ridden) county I worked in, located in the Midwest, and head straight into the cast of NYPD Blue -- without the massive civil rights violations, of course. I've not yet seen another show that does a better job of depicting the genuine love and respect that many folks in law enforcement have for their jobs. Not just their individual jobs, but the entire world of law enforcement/police work itself.

These days, I'd also love to spend some time living on Wisteria Lane. Scary mysteries AND foyer paint to die for! And, who wouldn't want to hang out with Lynette? Or just humbly throw themselves on Bree's mercy, acknowledge her dominance/superiority up front, and ask her nicely to tell me down to the exact detail how to get my woodwork to shine like that? I wonder: has anyone else ever looked at her house and thought, "Gosh, I bet that house smells really good ALL THE TIME..."?

Growing up I wanted to be Jeanne or Sam (Bewitched) and there was 1 girl that would definitely be in Siberia or walking around with a pig snout. Nowadays working with Olivia in L&O SVU would be very cool, possibly Jack Bauer's assistant on 24 or if I'm having a bad day, a long-lost Soprano.

and there was this show on BBCA called Hex for a while...i totally kinda wish i was the blonde girl...without all the creepy demon-stalking-me bit of it. (yeah, and i like the idea of having a sexy british accent)

When I was 13, I wanted to be Mrs. Emma Peel from those vintage years of "The Avengers." And 40 years later, I still want to be Mrs. Peel! She had the coolest clothes, the suavest car. She had John Steed always needing her in every single episode. She was brave, funny, loyal and smart. Plus, she kicked major butt. What's not to love?

I wanted to go trekking through the forest with Daniel Day Lewis after seeing Last of the Mohicans. I grew up near the Adirondacks, so it seemed possible. All of that long hair and big mountains. Sigh...

Patricia Cornwell's books made me want to live in Richmond, despite all of the freaky criminals running around. Then there was the Alaska obsession after readin the Kate Shugak mysteries.

Also, I wanted to be part of the Band of Brothers. Yes, I know I'm a girl, but still.